I Love Rock 'n' Roll
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song best known as a 1982 hit single by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. It was written in 1975 by Alan Merrill who recorded it with Arrows. Arrows version The song was originally recorded and released by Arrows in 1975 on Rak Records, with Merrill on lead vocals and guitar and Mickie Most producing. Merrill wrote the music and lyrics. In an interview with Songfacts, Merrill said he wrote the song as "a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)'." This version was first released as a B-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped to A-side status on a subsequent pressing of the record. Arrows performed the song in 1975 on the Muriel Young-produced show 45, after which Young offered Arrows a weekly UK television series, Arrows, which was broadcast on ITV starting in March 1976."Ten hits you may not know were cover versions". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2014 Joan Jett version | length = 2:55 (LP version) 2:45 (U.S. single edit) | label = Boardwalk | writer = Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | producer = Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna | prev_title = Bad Reputation | prev_year = 1981 | next_title = Crimson and Clover | next_year = 1982 | misc = }} }} Joan Jett saw the Arrows perform "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on their weekly UK television series Arrows while she was touring England with the Runaways in 1976. She first recorded the song in 1979 with two of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. This first version was released on vinyl in 1979 on Vertigo records as a B-side to "You Don't Own Me". In 1981, Jett re-recorded the song, this time with her band, the Blackhearts. This recording became a U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single for seven weeks.Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 322. Billboard ranked it at the No. 3 song for 1982. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing two million units shipped to stores, with Jett's I Love Rock 'n Roll album reaching number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. Jett's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016. Music video The black-and-white music video for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" received heavy play by the fledgling MTV network. It featured Jett and the Blackhearts traveling to a small, dingy bar and then exciting the drunken crowd by performing the song and yelling out its chorus. A snippet of Jett's 1981 hit "Bad Reputation" can be heard at the beginning of the video. The video was originally in color, but it was converted to black and white because Jett hated the look of her red leather jumpsuit in color. In 1993 Joan Jett & the Blackhearts made another music video for the song as part of the Wayne's World 2 soundtrack. The video consisted of scenes from the movie, with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, mixed with footage of Jett and her band in a faux concert filmed at Irving Plaza in NYC. At one point during the filming, one person was introduced to the crowd as having been in the original video as he set up to stage dive for that take. The song was again released as a single by Warner/Reprise with "Activity Grrrl" as the B-side. Popularity Jett's version has received many rankings, including: * No. 85 in ''Q'' magazine's March 2005 "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!" list. * No. 491 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". * No. 56 in ''Billboard'''s "''Greatest Songs of All Time".http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-60.shtml Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Britney Spears version | format = | recorded = 2001 | studio = | venue = | genre = Rock | length = | label = Jive | writer = Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | producer = Rodney Jerkins | prev_title = I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman | prev_year = 2002 | next_title = Anticipating | next_year = 2002 | misc = }} }} Background, release and composition "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was the fourth European single by pop singer Britney Spears from the album ''Britney, released on 27 May 2002. The song was used in her 2002 movie Crossroads, in which Spears' character Lucy performs it in a karaoke bar. Spears said of the song, "They asked me to sing karaoke in the movie Crossroads and I've actually sung I Love Rock 'n' Roll in a lot of clubs that I've been to." Spears has publicly stated that the original song is one of her favorites. She listened to the original Arrows Mickie Most-produced version just before she recorded the song, according to Jive A&R representative Steve Lunt. The scratches performed on this version were performed by Corey Chase at Hit Factory Miami. When promoting the single's release, Spears mistakenly attributed the hit version of the song to Pat Benatar instead of Joan Jett. Reception Critical Spears' cover was met with mostly favorable reviews. NME s Ted Kessler wrote that Britney "still works best when making a good pop cheese and dance sandwich: there's the ace Rodney Jerkins-produced version of Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll', which does exactly what is says on the tin." Rolling Stone s Barry Walters wrote that "producer Rodney Jerkins' hip-hop blaspheming of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" doesn't go as far as it should (is a Limp Bizkit remix in its future?), but it certainly beats what her earlier studio architects did to those Sonny and Cher ("The Beat Goes On" on ...Baby One More Time) and Stones ("(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on Oops!... I Did It Again) songs." Another positive reception came from PopMatters's editor Nikki Tranter, who enjoyed that the song is "different from the average run-of-the-mill pop offering," and praised that "she does strange justice to the tune, vamping up her vocals and turning out something, that while silly and camp, is actually a fun listen." In contrast, David Browne wrote for Entertainment Weekly that "her remake is neither imaginative (it simply xeroxes Joan Jett's arrangement) nor all that believable."Britney | Music. EW.com (12 November 2001). Retrieved on 2 January 2012. Commercial "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" charted moderately upon release, reaching the top twenty in most regions. The song was moderately successful in the UK, where it peaked at #13 (which, at the time, was Spears' lowest peak for a single released there, until "Radar" only managed to reach #46 in 2009, and then "I Wanna Go", which peaked at #111). The single sold a total of 65,000 copies.Britney Spears — I Love Rock 'n' Roll (UK) UKBritney.tv Retrieved on 22 May 2007 It was also certified Gold in Australia. Promotion Directed by Chris Applebaum, the music video for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" shows Spears with her own band, a stack of speakers and flashing lights. The video begins in black and white and switches to and from color throughout. It was shot at The Inn, a bar in Long Beach, New York. The video was ranked at #2 on the 100 Best Videos of 2002 list during MTV Latin America's countdown. A "Director's Cut" version of the video was later leaked, containing previously unseen scenes. The song was performed live during Spears' Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–02). In 2016, it was added to the revamped set list of her Las Vegas residency show, Britney: Piece of Me (2016–17), marking the first time Spears performed the song in 14 years. During the performance, Britney Spears rode a mechanical electric guitar, which simulated a mechanical bull, as it rotated on stage. The same prop electric guitar had been used during her Femme Fatale Tour (2011) for a segment in which she covered the song "Burning Up" by Madonna. At the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, the song was performed as part of a medley. Track listings *;European 2 tracks CD single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:06 # "Overprotected" (Darkchild Remix) — 3:18 *;European/Australian CD single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:08 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:06 # "Overprotected" (Darkchild Remix) — 3:20 # "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Metro Remix) — 5:26 *;German 2 tracks CD single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:07 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:05 *;German CD single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:07 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:05 # "Overprotected" (Riprock 'N Alex G Remix) — 3:25 # "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Metro Remix) — 5:24 *;Japanese CD maxi single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:06 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:04 # "Overprotected" (Darkchild Remix) — 3:20 # "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Metro Remix) — 5:25 # "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Thunderpuss Radio Mix) — 3:18 # "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Miguel Migs Petalpusher Vocal) — 5:30 # "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Spanish Fly Dub Mix) — 5:55 *;UK CD maxi single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:06 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:04 # "Overprotected (Darkchild Remix Radio Edit)" — 3:06 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Video) — 3:06 *;Cassette single # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Album Version) — 3:06 # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Karaoke Version) — 3:04 # "Overprotected" (Darkchild Remix Radio Edit) — 3:06 *;Digital download (Digital 45) # "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" — 3:07 # "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Metro Remix Radio Edit) — 3:29 Charts and certifications Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications Release history Alex Gaudino and Jason Rooney version A cover version by Alex Gaudino and Jason Rooney was released in 2008. Track listing ;Credits and personnel * Lead vocals – Alex Gaudino * Music – Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker * Lyrics – Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker * Scratches – Corey Chase * Label: 541/NEWS Chart performance Release history Other cover versions "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" has been covered and sampled by artists such as: *Tiny Tim, on his 1980 album Chameleon. * L'Arc~En~Ciel, as an international single in 2011 and it in a Pepsi commercial in Japan. * Lee Da-hae, as a 2007 single with versions in both English and Korean. *Five, who sampled the song in "Everybody Get Up". * Reverend Run, who sampled the song in "Mind on the Road" from his solo album Distortion. * "Weird Al" Yankovic, who parodied the song as "I Love Rocky Road". * Forever Young, who reached #27 in France in 2003. * Fast Forward Highway, for the video game Just Dance 2017. *Eminem, who sampled the instrumental in "Remind Me" from his ninth studio album Revival. * Lipsaset, who released a 2014 version in Finnish called "Aina rock'n'roll". See also *[[List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982|List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982]] References External links * History of the song "I Love Rock 'n Roll" * Bill Harry's Merseybeat article * Category:1975 songs Category:1975 singles Category:1982 singles Category:2002 singles Category:Arrows (British band) songs Category:Jive Records singles Category:RAK Records singles Category:Joan Jett songs Category:Britney Spears songs Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one singles Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Category:Single Top 100 number-one singles Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in South Africa Category:Number-one singles in Sweden Category:Music videos directed by Chris Applebaum Category:Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Category:Song recordings produced by Rodney Jerkins Category:Songs about music Category:Number-one singles in Australia Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand